


Time And Time Again

by Nora_Wolfe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Reincarnation, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:54:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27055246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nora_Wolfe/pseuds/Nora_Wolfe
Summary: Rey Niima, while training as a witch under Maz Kanata, realizes that there is much more to her dreams than just her unresolved feelings about her ex-boyfriend, Ben Solo.(ON HIATUS)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There are probably a number of gross historical inaccuracies in this story, so I apologize in advance.

**West Midlands, AD 61**

"Don't do this, Rhiannon. Please don't go this way..."

Caelum stared at the fiery warrior in front of him, shifting her javelin thoughtfully in her hands, as though she were contemplating his words from their argument minutes ago. He wanted, no, needed, to make her see the truth, that Queen Boudica's vendetta would not end well, not with Suetonius already strategizing the Romans' next move.

The next few moments passed in agonized silence.

"You won't change my mind, Caelum," she finally replied, setting aside her weapon on a nearby ledge, her chin lifting up in defiance. "My Queen deserves justice for the wrongs that the Romans have committed against her and her daughters, and I plan to fight by her side, no matter what."

"Even if it means your death?" he spat. "Even if it could be me who drives his gladius into your chest, and makes you bleed to death on the battlefield?"

"If it is meant to be, then yes," she reached out to cup his face gently, her thumb brushing against the stubborn jaw that was working furiously to hold back more impassioned pleas. "My love, please do not ask for what I cannot give."

Caelum grabbed Rhiannon roughly, heedless of the armour on his body biting into her flesh, and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. "I should chain you up in my tent, keep you there until the battle is over," he breathed.

"And I would break every bone in my body to free myself, before giving up on my Queen."

He groaned in despair, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop her. His brave, beautiful warrior would not be swayed from her cause, and his loyalty had been pledged to the Primus Pilus of the First Cohort a long time ago.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "No matter what happens tomorrow, let us have tonight."

She answered him with a sweet smile, leaning back to undo the clasp of her cloak, before pulling him down to the ground with her.

The same smile greeted him again the next day, as he drove his sword into her heart on the battlefield, his unshed tears obscuring his vision.

* * *

**Western Xia, AD 1226**

"You leave tomorrow morning, husband?" Lei Yi quietly asked, as she laid her hand across her swollen belly. She had already resigned herself to the fact that Kai Luo was going to join the growing army at Lingwu, in a last-ditch attempt to hold back the encroaching Mongolian forces.

"My love," he kissed her forehead as he enfolded her in his embrace. "Don't worry, I will come home to you and our child soon. The army is now 300,000 strong, and we should be able to rout the invaders with the counter-attack."

Lei Yi could only bury her face against the soft weave of his robe as she held back her sobs. She knew that her husband was a man of honour, and would not budge from his vow to the city that he had sworn to protect when they first moved here to hide from Genghis Khan's army.

"Kai Luo," she hiccuped. "I will tell our child stories of your adventures every night while you're gone, so that he will know you upon sight when you return."

"Tell her the story of how we met as well," he murmured into her hair. "Tell her how the red thread of fate, woven by Yue Lao, brought together a lonely boy and a strong-willed orphan in an enchanted forest."

"I will."

That night, they made love slowly and tenderly, whispering sweet promises to each other and their unborn child they didn't know if they could fulfill. But it was all they could do to keep their hope alive.

The news of Lingwu's fall reached Lei Yi only a few days later. Kai Luo never came home to discover that his guess about their child being a girl had been correct after all.

* * *

**England, AD 1471**

"We should not keep meeting like this," Margary hissed as her lover pulled her along the corridor leading to his suite. "I do not want the others to find out!"

Benedict merely grinned at her boyishly, the strong lines of his face softening as he looked at her with something akin to fondness in his gaze. "Would it be so terrible if they did?"

She tugged her hand from his grasp, annoyed at his clear disregard for her worries. "I am a mere chambermaid, my lord, and you are heir to a title. If anyone were to discover us, I would be tossed out of this household, and you would still be a lord."

"I would not allow it!"

"Neither of us have a say in our fates, my lord. The other maids have spoken of your betrothal to Lady Beatrice, to be celebrated in a fortnight," replied Margary in a resigned tone.

"You must know that she means nothing to me, little one," he said, a pleading tone in his words. "My lady mother insisted that I marry, if only to shore up our fortunes after the House of Lancaster fell."

"I may not have noble blood in my veins, but I have my dignity," she began walking away. "I cannot be your paramour when your lady wife occupies your bed."

Benedict's eye twitched as his smile faded. "You know that I want no part of this. Is it not time to let old things die? Margary, I want you to join me. We can run away together and start new lives elsewhere."

She turned back to look at him. "You know what you have to do, my lord. And I know my position in this world. It cannot be by your side. I have no place in this story; I come from nothing, I am nothing."

"But not to me," he interrupted harshly.

"Fare thee well, my lord."

He did not follow her as she resumed walking away from him, but she heard the sounds of an anguished cry and a fist slamming into the wall.

A fortnight later, Margary hid in the room that she shared with the other chambermaids, while the rest of the household staff celebrated the arrival of their new mistress in the kitchens.

* * *

**Massachusetts, present day**

Rey's eyes popped open, as she woke with a strangled sound. Breathing harshly, she turned to look at the small alarm clock on her bedside table. 

3:00 a.m. The so-called witching hour. If she hadn't been so rattled at the moment, she would have laughed at that thought.

She had one of those dreams again.

Dreams where a dark-haired man would reach out to her, asking her to join him, as they stood amongst burning debris. She would always run away from him in those, her concern for her friends' safety overriding her latent desire to comfort him, to take his hand, before waking up.

Dreams of other realities where she would have been the bride, or lover, of the very same man, heart full of happiness, until tragedy stole them from each other's sides.

And the man always wore Ben Solo's face.

"Ugh," she muttered as she scrubbed her face with her hands. "Not again."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am totally taking liberties with describing Rey's powers in this story here, but hopefully it'll all make sense in the end. I am aware that Wicca and witchcraft practices are nothing like Force powers. 🙂

**Massachusetts, present day**

The little bell over the front door of "Maz's Casting Castle" tinkled as Rey pushed it open. She was early for her shift at the store, which was ostensibly a retail supplier of Wiccan and other occult items to the public.

But the cheery and benign facade of the shop concealed what it actually was: a haven for fledgling witches to learn how to control their powers, and develop them to their fullest potential.

Rey had discovered her own magickal abilities at the age of 19, when she realized that she could locate objects that had gone missing, by picturing them in her mind and letting her thoughts focus until the answers presented themselves. 

Soon, it became clear that the range of her magick extended beyond that of merely finding things, when she had accidentally summoned a pen from a fellow student's hand during a lecture, her irritation at his incessant tapping activating her psychokinetic capability.

It had been a close call, with Rey scrambling to hide the pilfered pen under her notebook as the other student looked around the lecture hall quizzically. When he had been unable to see where it had gone, he shook his head and turned back for the rest of the professor's ramblings, tapping his fingers on the bench instead. Rey had been so astonished at this turn of events that she was barely able to pay attention to the rest of the lecture afterwards.

"Maz?" Rey called out. "It's Rey; I figured that I'd come in early to do some more research?"

"Is it still about those dreams you're having, child?" Maz said as she emerged from the private room at the back of the store, which also served as a space for her students to practice their craft.

"Yeah, I haven't been able to get rid of them yet," replied Rey dejectedly. "I've tried all kinds of binding and banishment spells, but they don't work at all. I still dream of him."

Rey tried not to think about how much it had hurt to watch Ben walking away from her that day, after all the terrible things they had said to each other. She had tried calling him afterwards to apologize, but he rejected all her attempts to contact him, to the extent of blocking her number.

Maz only shook her head in response. "There is a reason why your heart and mind have not been able to let go, Rey Niima. Trust in the Goddess and the God to bring you the answers."

* * *

**Massachusetts, two years ago**

"And I nearly had a heart attack when the pen flew to my hand, Unkar," said Rey, as she helped to set the table for supper that night. "I mean, being able to find stuff is one thing, but psychokinesis?"

Ulysses Plutt could only shrug as he regarded his former foster daughter. "It seems to me that you're going to need someone to help you explore your potential further. I'll give Maz a call tomorrow, and see what she thinks."

She grinned at him, "Really? That would be amazing! Isn't she the leader of Circle Takodana?"

"Yes, and I think she would agree with me that you need a teacher, if you want to explore the full extent of your magickal abilities. I'm not powerful enough to do anything more than read tea leaves," he joked.

"You're the best, Unkar! Thank you so much!" 

Smiling at Rey's enthusiasm, Ulysses thought back to the day when he had first met her, when she had been a skinny five-year-old without anyone to care for her. She had been just as excitable back then.

_"Sweetheart, this is Mr. Plutt," said the social worker as she accompanied Rey into the reception area of the orphanage. "He'll be taking care of you for the time being, okay?"_

_"Hello, Rey," Ulysses knelt down on the floor, so that he would seem less intimidating to the little girl. "My name is Ulysses, and it's a pleasure to meet you."_

_She furrowed her brows in concentration as she tried to repeat his name. "U-less-is?"_

_He laughed. "You can just call me Uncle Plutt, if that's easier."_

_"Unkar!"_

_And the name had stuck ever since._

* * *

**Massachusetts, present day**

Rey sighed in resignation as she locked up the store for the night. She had spent most of her free time during her shift poring over the ancient grimoires and other books on magick that Maz kept in the back room, but was still unable to find any definitive answers to her dilemma.

The dreams only reminded her of how much she missed Ben ever since he left. It felt as though an essential piece of her soul had been ripped away, now that he was no longer a part of her life. 

She couldn't even remember what they had been arguing about the day they broke up, but she did remember the rage that had come over her suddenly, a red mist clouding her vision. Her anger had been palpable, and she had come close to using her psychokinetic ability to lash out at Ben. And as he had never shown any signs of magick growing up, Ben wouldn't have been able to physically protect himself from the strength of her powers.

The familiar pain rose in her chest again. She could still see Ben's face in her mind's eye, his expression turning wary as he slowly backed away from her. And although she had managed to recover from the volatile emotions that had overwhelmed her senses in time, he had accused her of giving in to her darker impulses too easily, especially when it came to him.

And, she privately admitted to herself, it was true.

The further they had progressed in their relationship, the more often she would doubt herself, wondering why someone like Ben Solo would choose to be with a nobody like her. The son of Leia Organa, a politician, and Han Solo, a retired racer, Ben could have dated anyone he wanted, but he had chosen to be with her.

And she feared losing him so much that she had driven him away instead.

Lost in her thoughts, Rey stopped walking as she suddenly realized that she was being watched. 

Her magick had sensed another presence in the vicinity, and while the path was a familiar one that she usually took to return home, there was an aura of menace and madness that had not been there before. The atmosphere became overwhelming, and she thought she caught a glimpse of a face out of the corner of her eye: one with tiny sunken eyes and an overly large mouth.

She tried to scream, but fear paralyzed her vocal cords, and she could sense the malevolent entity coming closer. What was it? She couldn't see it clearly, but she knew that it definitely wasn't a random spirit. Desperate to escape, Rey instinctively raised her hand to ward off the apparition, and a small blast of lightning abruptly emanated from her fingertips, displacing the terror that had held her in its grip.

But the little flash of light was enough to stop the _thing_ in its tracks.

Just as she was about to scream again, the vision disappeared, along with the feeling of dread weighing down on her. Shaking from the adrenaline rushing through her body, she stumbled the rest of the way home, only to stop short as she saw a lone figure waiting outside her front door.

"Ben!"

Rey fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Massachusetts, five months ago**

"Ben!"

Rey shrieked with glee as her boyfriend swung her into his arms, carrying her through the doorway into his apartment. Kicking the front door closed behind him, he set her down carefully on her feet, before cupping her face in his large hands and planting a sweet kiss on her lips.

She returned it eagerly, her hands coming to rest on his broad chest, and opened her mouth to let his tongue slide in against hers. Rey's eyes closed as he deepened the kiss, his hands running down her body to tighten possessively around her hips. Groaning into her mouth, he pulled her even closer, until his erection was pressing insistently against her abdomen. 

"Rey," Ben breathed, his lips still brushing against hers. "We have to stop, or else I'll end up fucking you against the wall."

"What if I want you to?" she replied teasingly.

His eyes darkened at her words, and he growled, "Don't tempt me, baby, I only have so much self-control. We're supposed to be heading out for my mother's birthday party soon, remember?"

Rey visibly deflated at his words, and stepped back. "Oh, yes. Right." She nervously ran a hand down the dress she was wearing, a pale green cotton sheath that she had found at her favourite thrift store a week ago. It had seemed appropriate for the event when she first saw it on the rack, but now, she wasn't sure if it would help her fit in with the other guests who were undoubtedly more sophisticated than she was.

_You don't belong at al_ l, an insidious voice whispered in her mind. _What makes you think that you're good enough for him and his family? You're no one. A nobody, whose own mother and father left her at a rest stop because they didn't want her._

She looked at Ben again, and asked timidly, "Are your parents okay with me coming? I don't want to impose…"

He interrupted her with an amused snort, "Rey, you won't be imposing on them at all, believe me. My mom absolutely loves socializing, and to be honest, I think she'll love you a lot more than she does me."

_He's saying that now, but just you wait and see_ , the voice hissed, as Rey tried to smile in response to his words.

* * *

**Massachusetts, present day**

"Are you okay?" Ben rushed forward to support Rey, as her legs gave out beneath her. "Baby, what happened? Rey?"

He wrapped his arms around her limp body and lifted her, breathing a sigh of relief when he still felt the reassuring throb of her heartbeat against his chest. He pressed his lips against her temple, inhaling the familiar scent of her hair, honey and vanilla, and wondered not for the first time, how he had been able to walk away from her. 

When he had seen her approaching her apartment building, looking pale and distressed, his blood had chilled. And when she'd fallen, his mind had flashed back to the dreams he'd been having since they broke up.

Dreams of him holding her dead body in some unknown place, a dark and barren landscape where lightning flashed from the ground up, as he desperately tried to revive her.

Dreams of them in different eras, when they had fallen deeply in love, and even married, but never had a happily-ever-after.

Carrying her to his car, which he had parked nearby, he carefully tucked her into the passenger seat. He'd take her back to his place, he decided, and they would have to talk about what they had left unresolved between them. He had been a coward, he knew that, by avoiding her calls, and even blocking her number, but it was definitely time to settle the issue of their relationship once and for all.

* * *

_His eyes were dark with lust and frustration as he leaned over her, trapping both of her wrists against the bed with one large hand. Dressed in only a sheer linen shift, she squirmed in his grasp, smiling to herself as his gaze traced over the skin bared by her movements, the hem of her shift riding higher and higher until it reached the apex of her thighs. He groaned as her cunt was revealed, already glistening with wetness, and released her wrists to grasp her hips, so that he could press his lips against her inner thigh…_

Rey woke up with a gasp, her body still thrumming with arousal even though the dream had ended. As the images receded, so did the wave of heat coursing through her body, and she slowly sat up, realizing that she wasn't in her own bedroom but Ben's. Everything had stayed the same since the last time she had been here, except for the addition of a picture frame on his bedside table. Curious, she reached out to pick it up for a closer look.

"Rey?"

She yelped in surprise, dropping her hand and turning around to see Ben standing in the doorway with a steaming mug in his hand. 

"Rey," he repeated. "How are you feeling? Here, I brewed some chamomile tea for you." He crossed the room to hand her the mug, and for the briefest moment, his fingers brushed against hers. The warmth of the mug barely registered as her skin tingled where he had touched her.

Ben must have felt the same sensation, immediately drawing his hand back as though he had been burned, although the mug wasn't that hot to begin with. "Uh," he stammered. "Do you need anything else? I can get whatever you want..." His voice trailed off as he shrugged and lifted his palms upwards in a questioning gesture; so familiar and yet so strange, to see it again.

Rey placed the mug carefully on the bedside table, her heart aching as she recalled all the times she had been in this very room with him, those moments filled with laughter and passion and love. And now, it seemed as though they were strangers once more, acquaintances at best, each afraid to make a misstep in case the other went running.

"Could you please just hold me?" she asked in a small voice, folding her hands into her lap to stop their sudden trembling, as the shock from the earlier part of the night finally caught up with her. She bowed her head and bit her lip, trying to pull herself together in case Ben said no. Just so she could walk out of his apartment, and his life, one more time with her chin held high.

"Baby, always," she heard him murmur as he came closer. The weight of his arms around her body felt like a homecoming, a solid anchor that would keep her safe even as she felt like there was nothing else left for her to hold on to. He hummed tunelessly in her ear, curving his large frame around her until she was curled on the bed between his thighs, with her face tucked into the crook of his neck. 

She inadvertently let out a sob, clutching at Ben, as she tried to burrow even further into his embrace. His only response was to tighten his hold on her, and she cried harder, letting the pent-up grief and anger of the past weeks overwhelm her. Her control on her magick came undone as well, causing a few objects in his room to levitate and float in mid-air.

Ben's heart lurched as he felt the force of Rey's sorrow wrack her form, and he did the only thing he could think of to soothe her.

He tipped her tear-stained face upwards, and set his lips on hers in a gentle kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Please come say hi on [Twitter!](http://twitter.com/i_am_nora_wolfe)


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